Mario Ascencio is the Visual Arts Liaison Librarian and Coordinator of Graduate Research Assistants at George Mason University Libraries in Fairfax, Virginia.

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Mario Ascencio is the Visual Arts Liaison Librarian and Coordinator of Graduate Research Assistants at the [http://library.gmu.edu] University Libraries at [http://www.gmu.edu] George Mason University, Virginia.

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Mario is a member of the American Library Association (ALA); Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL); and the District of Columbia Library Association. He is currently Chair of the ALA Spectrum Scholarship Jury, member of the ALA Council Committee on Legislation and ACRL’s Government Relations Committee. Most recently, he was one of the 100 librarians chosen, out of 300+ applicants, to be part of ALA’s Emerging Leaders Program.

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Mario is a member of the American Library Association (ALA); Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL); and the District of Columbia Library Association. He is currently Chair of the ALA Spectrum Scholarship Jury, member of the ALA Council Committee on Legislation and ACRL’s Government Relations Committee. Most recently, he was one of the 100 librarians chosen to be part of ALA’s Emerging Leaders Program.

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Mario strongly believes in the full spectrum of diversity; he is a member of the American Indian Library Association; the ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table; the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA); the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA); and [http://www.reforma.org/ REFORMA—The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking]. In April 2006, he was elected as REFORMA Vice-President/President Elect and has been serving in that capacity since June 2006. Past REFORMA committees include: Chair of the REFORMA Legislation Committee, treasurer of the REFORMA DC Metro Area Chapter, President of the REFORMA DC Metro Area Chapter, and Chair of the REFORMA Web page Committee.

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Mario strongly believes in the full spectrum of diversity; he is a member of the American Indian Library Association (AILA); the ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT); the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA); the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA); and [http://www.reforma.org/ REFORMA—The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking]. In April 2006, he was elected as REFORMA Vice-President/President Elect and has been serving in that capacity since June 2006. Past REFORMA committees include: Chair of the REFORMA Legislation Committee, treasurer of the REFORMA DC Metro Area Chapter, President of the REFORMA DC Metro Area Chapter, and Chair of the REFORMA Web page Committee.

Mario has been active with various community projects and services. At George Mason University, he works closely with the Office of Diversity Programs and Services and the Hispanic Student Association; having served as the Co-Faculty Advisor in 2003-2004. In Fall 2006, he received two important invitations. The first invitation was from the GMU’s Assistant to the President, Camille Hazeur, to serve on the University’s Diversity Council and the second was from GMU’s Vice President of University Life, Sandy Hubbert, to serve on Mason’s Art Council.

Mario has been active with various community projects and services. At George Mason University, he works closely with the Office of Diversity Programs and Services and the Hispanic Student Association; having served as the Co-Faculty Advisor in 2003-2004. In Fall 2006, he received two important invitations. The first invitation was from the GMU’s Assistant to the President, Camille Hazeur, to serve on the University’s Diversity Council and the second was from GMU’s Vice President of University Life, Sandy Hubbert, to serve on Mason’s Art Council.

Revision as of 13:36, 21 January 2007

Mario Ascencio is the Visual Arts Liaison Librarian and Coordinator of Graduate Research Assistants at the [1] University Libraries at [2] George Mason University, Virginia.

Mario is a member of the American Library Association (ALA); Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL); and the District of Columbia Library Association. He is currently Chair of the ALA Spectrum Scholarship Jury, member of the ALA Council Committee on Legislation and ACRL’s Government Relations Committee. Most recently, he was one of the 100 librarians chosen to be part of ALA’s Emerging Leaders Program.

Mario strongly believes in the full spectrum of diversity; he is a member of the American Indian Library Association (AILA); the ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT); the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA); the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA); and REFORMA—The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. In April 2006, he was elected as REFORMA Vice-President/President Elect and has been serving in that capacity since June 2006. Past REFORMA committees include: Chair of the REFORMA Legislation Committee, treasurer of the REFORMA DC Metro Area Chapter, President of the REFORMA DC Metro Area Chapter, and Chair of the REFORMA Web page Committee.

Mario has been active with various community projects and services. At George Mason University, he works closely with the Office of Diversity Programs and Services and the Hispanic Student Association; having served as the Co-Faculty Advisor in 2003-2004. In Fall 2006, he received two important invitations. The first invitation was from the GMU’s Assistant to the President, Camille Hazeur, to serve on the University’s Diversity Council and the second was from GMU’s Vice President of University Life, Sandy Hubbert, to serve on Mason’s Art Council.

Mario is also active outside the Mason community. Since 2002, he has participated in national lobbying efforts for American libraries and has led the REFORMA Legislative Committee for the past three years. In 2002, he was appointed by Washington, DC Mayor Anthony Williams to serve on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, an advisory group to the mayor regarding federal Title V funding for youth services and programming. In 2001, he served as a consultant on Libraries for the Future MetLife Foundation Reading America program, a national book and film discussion series for teens and families. From 2000-2003, he was a member of One in Ten’s Museum Project, in Washington, DC; a project dedicated to the creation of a national GLBT museum in the nation’s capital.

As an adult, Mario has never wanted to do anything but to be a librarian. He has worked in academic, public, and special libraries. His involvement in the library profession began as a library page with the County of Los Angeles Public Library. Since then, he has held library positions at the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and Humanities, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, and the District of Columbia Public Library. He was most recently the Head, Acquisitions & Gifts at George Mason University Libraries.

Mario holds a B.A. in Art History from California State University, Northridge and a minor in Italian which he completed through the California State University International Programs in Florence, Italy. After returning from Italy, he attended the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and received his MLIS in 1999. During his study at UCLA, he interned at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He was also the recipient of a research grant from the Tinker Foundation to conduct research on library services in El Salvador.